


It’s never too late for another chance

by MissChrisDaae



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, Gen, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-02-06
Packaged: 2018-01-11 09:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1171527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChrisDaae/pseuds/MissChrisDaae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been a year since Loki found out the truth about himself and ran away from home. He’s been slumming it in the city as a musician, but the money he took with him is running out, and he takes a job at the local university’s music library. And that job changes everything for him, because it's how he meets Belle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It’s never too late for another chance

* * *

He'd gotten the job. Probably because no one else seemed to want it, but it'd pay the bills anyway. Loki started walking back towards the bus stop, popping a mint in his mouth when he heard a girl yelling.

“Gaston! Stop it! Give me my books back!”

He stopped and immediately changed direction, running towards the sound of the shouts. He found her on the main commons, a small brunette surrounded by three hulking idiots in sports jackets. “Keep screaming, gold-digger,” one of the boys taunted, ripping a cup from the girl's hands and dumping its contents over her head. The girl screamed again, sobbing as the liquid tumbled down onto her.

Loki put a hand on the bully’s shoulder, reaching for the switchblade inside his leather jacket with the other hand. “You have thirty seconds to give the young lady back her things and run,” he warned softly.

“Fuck off, punk,” the boy sneered. Loki pulled out the knife, its silver blade flashing in the sunlight as he started counting.

“Thirty... twenty-nine... Twenty-eight....” The leader shoved the books back at the girl and took off, his friends close behind him. Loki turned his attention to the girl. “Are you hurt, miss?”

“N-no… G-Go away… ” she whispered, trying to wipe the dripping tea out of her eyes.

“You're soaking wet, let me help,” he insisted, pulling off his jacket.

She moved away from him, clutching her books tightly to her chest. “No, please, I'm fine I don't need anyone's help,” she said. “It’s my own fault anyway.”

“At least let me walk you to your class!” he insisted. “Treating you like that, it's disgraceful!”

She bit her lip, looking up at him with a pair of impossibly blue eyes. “Come with me to my dorm... I um.... I need to change out of these first,” she whispered.

“Of course.” He nodded, walking a few steps behind her. “You're a student here?”

Lifting up the hood of her stained sweatshirt, she nodded her head. “Yes.”

“My name's Loki,” he told her.

“Belle.” She looked over at him, smiling shyly. No, not quite shyly. More like cautiously. She was wary of him. She didn’t know whether or not she could trust him. 

“French?” he asked, grinning softly and attempting humor to break the ice. “It suits you.” 

“Th… Thank you.” Her face flushed pink and she pulled deeper into the hood as they climbed the steps of her dorm. Loki leaned against the wall, waiting patiently until she emerged, wearing a fresh set of clothes, her soft brown hair braided down the left side of her head. 

 “Where are you heading now?” he asked.

“Um, actually… this is my lunch hour.” she admitted. “I was on my way to a dining hall.” She bit her lip.

“I'll leave you to it, then,” he suggested, starting to walk away. “I'm sorry if I troubled you.”

Belle blinked and looked at him. “No! Wait...” She grabbed his arm.

He turned to look back at her. “Yes?”

“You could join me... after that incident with Gaston, Claude and Alistair, I could use some company,” she sighed. “Besides, I need to think of a way to repay you.”

“I have to get back to my flat, I'm sorry. But there's no need to repay me. Truly.”

She looked up at him again with those remarkable blue eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. But before I go, give me your phone, so I can put my number in.”

“You want to give me your number?” she asked skeptically, pulling out a small, silver phone and passing it to him. He noticed it was an older model as he flipped it open and set himself up in the contacts.

“If you’re not going to go to the campus police about their behavior, then at least call me the next time one of those asses tries something like that again.” He handed the phone back to her. “I’ll deal with them.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the honorable thing to do.”

* * *

On Saturday, Belle decided to go out, rather than stay in bed all day. She got up and dressed, careful not to disturb her sleeping roommate, and headed out into the city, towards the Lucas Family Diner. As she approached the familiar little restaurant, she saw a couple standing outside, comprised of a petite girl with a long black braid and the man who’d interrupted Gaston’s usual torment session yesterday. He had a guitar case strapped to his back, and his pale, angular features looked cold and imperious as he stood a full foot and a half over the girl.

“Loki, please, come on—” the girl was saying.

“Sigyn, I told you, we’re done. We were done _weeks_ ago, and you keep coming here, begging me to take you back, it’s pathetic!” he spat.

“But what about—”

“It was just a bit of fun,” he interrupted. “But it’s over now. Stop coming here, stop leaving notes at my flat, and stop trying to be a part of my life!”

“Fun?!?” Sigyn shrieked. “We were together for six months! I turned down Theoric to go out with you, you can’t just—”

“I can, I will, and I have. And if you’re so damn upset about Theoric, I’m sure he’ll give you another chance if you pout at him long enough. You’ve already made me late for work, just go. Now. I don’t want to see you anymore.” With that, he walked into the diner, slamming the door in her face.

As she watched Sigyn run off, Belle bit her lip, remembering when someone had said very similar things to her. Swallowing, she pushed in the door. Loki was standing at the counter, arguing with Ruby.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to be complaining, given how often _your_ boyfriends come in here.”

“The difference is, I do it on my own time!” Ruby countered, brushing back her red streak.

“I didn’t ask her to make me late!”

“Loki, I’m sorry, but you were late, I have to dock a dollar of your pay, or Granny is going to make my life hell. Just get set up, and we’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Fine,” Loki muttered, skulking away.

Belle cautiously made her way over to the counter, grabbing a stool at the corner. “Hi, Ruby.”

“Hey!” Ruby’s face softened a little as she smiled at Belle. “I haven’t seen you in ages! Is everything going okay at school? You want your usual?”

“Yes, thank you. And I’m a little better, thanks to Loki.” Belle looked over at him. He had his back to her, so all she could see was the tangled mess of raven black hair on his shoulders and  his leather jacket as he set up a stool in an empty corner of the diner. “How do you know him?”

“He plays on weekends. How do _you_ know him?” asked Ruby, pinning an order slip to the cook’s window.

“He, um… he kind of played the dark knight for me earlier this week. Gaston was being his usual charming self, and Loki… stepped in.”

“Yeah, he can be cool when he wants to be.” Ruby admitted, passing her an iced tea. “But most of the time, he has _issues_. Like, _so many_ issues, and he just sort of angsts about them, but he won’t say what they are.” As if to accentuate Ruby’s comment, Loki started playing _Sympathy for the Devil_ on his guitar.

“ _Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…._ ”

“Mick Jagger?” Belle raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t seem like his style.”

“It’s just the one song. Like I said, he angsts. And a lot of that comes out when he plays. But, he brings in customers, so we let him do it.”

“Hmmm.” Belle watched him. The sharpness of his face seemed to soften as he played. She couldn’t make out his green eyes, but she had a feeling they looked peaceful. Ruby left to go work a few of the other tables, but Belle found herself unable to take her eyes off Loki, even when her pancakes arrived.

After a few songs, Loki stood and walked over to her, leaning against the counter. “Belle. Fancy seeing you here.” When he wasn’t angry, his voice sounded smooth and rich, like dark chocolate, especially with the trace of what sounded like a British accent leaking into his speech.

She gave him a wry smile, biting off a piece of her bacon. “Same to you.” She pointed a finger at the guitar. “You’re really good.”

“It keeps me occupied,” he said, shrugging off her compliment as he put the guitar against his hip. Twisting one of the tuning pegs, he plucked a string, making a face as it reverberated.

“How long have you been playing?”

“I took lessons when I was younger, but I stopped... I just started again...” His eyes flickered away, and he pursed his lips, as if remembering something painful. “Last year. After I moved here.”

“Well. It suits you,” she told him, taking a sip of her iced tea. “So, do you like it here?”

“I suppose… It’s certainly a change, and that’s what I wanted.” He reached around the counter to grab a bottled water. 

“You should think of doing it for a living” she stated. “You could make a lot of money.”

“I don't need to make money that badly. And I don't need a spotlight on my face.” He drained the bottle in a single swallow, and tossed it into the recycling bin by the door. “It was a pleasure to see you again. But now I have to get back to work.” He walked back to his stool and started playing _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ , nudging his open guitar case with his foot. “ _I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known.._.”

* * *

A few weeks later, Loki was in the middle of shelving old manuscripts when he saw Belle sitting at one of the tables, surrounded by a stack of books. Taking one of the empty mint boxes from his pocket, he tossed it at her and waved. As the box ricocheted off the books and into her lap, she looked up and waved back at him. He slid down the ladder and walked over to lean across the table, looking down at her. “Fancy meeting you here,” he whispered slyly.

“It’s a university library and I’m a student who needs somewhere to study,” she pointed out in a soft voice, taking a sip of water and smiling up at him. “So, you work here?”

“I got the job the same day we met.”

“And do you like it?”

“Pleasant enough. You look happy to see me.” He shifted the scores in his arms.

Her already rosy cheeks turned an even warmer pink. “I’ve… um… actually been thinking about you a lot,” she murmured.

He wasn't certain how to react to that. That was the sort of thing sixteen year old girls said to him when they saw him playing in the diner. And Belle didn’t seem like that kind of woman. “Is that so?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Yes.”

“What about me?” He grinned at her cheekily. It felt bizarrely good to be bantering with anyone after spending so much time on his own.

“Nothing.....” she muttered, looking back down at her books.

“No, tell me.”

“Just that… you’re kind of a mystery to me.”

“A mystery,” he repeated dryly. “This from a girl who is reading Homer in the original Greek. And translating very well, I might add.” He tapped the open notebook in front of her.

“You know Ancient Greek?”

“I studied it when I was in school. And Latin. I was minoring in the classics, it was rather necessary.”

“Is there anything you don’t do?”

“Sports,” he deadpanned, letting his smile grow a little. “Unless you count fencing.”

“Fencing,” she echoed. “Who _fences_ anymore?”

“Spoiled rich boys who have nothing else to do with their time and are not interested in following their brothers around to every wrestling match, track meet and boxing tournament,” he joked. The minute the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. That was more about his personal life than he’d told anyone in the entire time he’d been in town. He was supposed to be forgetting all of it, that had been the whole point of his move.

“And you?” joked Belle. He let himself breathe again. She hadn’t connected the dots.

“Yes. And me.”

* * *

Belle listlessly flipped through the pages of the _Aeneid,_ poking a French fry in the corner of her mouth as she read. In the background, she could hear Loki stop playing. “I thought you liked studying in quiet places,” he said. 

She looked up to see him standing over her. He was wearing his dark hair tied back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. It should have looked silly, but somehow, he made it work. She could see his collarbone peeking out from the unbuttoned neck of his shirt, revealing a leather cord with an oddly decorated pendant.

“I’m never one to pass up a burger on the house,” she answered, smiling at him. “Ruby and Granny, they’re really nice. Kind of like a second family.”

“Ruby does have a habit of picking up strays,” he joked, pulling up a chair and sitting across from her. “Still working on the _Iliad_?”

“Actually, I’m trying to sift through the _Aeneid_.” She held up the book for him to see.

“Virgil?” he groaned. “You have my sympathies. That abomination gave me insomnia for a week.”

“I like the story,” she said.

“So, what exactly is the point behind you reading all this epic poetry?”

“I’m doing a paper on perspectives of the Trojan War. You know the saying that history is written by the victors?”

“All too well.” He stole one of her fries, popping it in his mouth with a smirk. “Sorry, I should have asked.”

“Yes, you should have,” she scolded, rolling her eyes. “Now, go away, I have a scholarship I need to keep.”

“Save a few more chips for me,” he told her.

“Chips?” she repeated. “How very British of you.”

“You have no idea how much I miss London sometimes.”

“Wait, you’re from London?” That explained the accent.

“I went to school there,” he said cryptically.

“What school?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Is that some sort of line I’m not supposed to cross, then?”

“That is an excellent way of putting it, actually. Perhaps we could speak about this more when my session is over.”

* * *

Loki began to wish he’d thought of the line for a lot of other people in his life. It would have made things a lot simpler, although somehow, he doubted everyone would have been as agreeable about it as Belle. And the only reason that she was so agreeable about it was because she had a line of her own.

Any mention of the dolt who’d tormented her, apparently her ex-boyfriend, was usually where the line would be drawn. Or rather, why it was Gaston tormented her. He was unable to glean any information about the significance of the name ‘gold-digger,’ or why Belle had such a small circle of friends. But he did learn that she was a double major in Literature and Classical Studies, that she wanted to travel, and that she was on scholarship because her father’s small business hadn’t been able to handle the current economic issues.

Sometimes, he’d feel guilty for not sharing the details of his past with her. He kept telling himself that there was no reason to; He’d never told Sigyn, or anyone else, and he was trying to forget it himself.

If it was even possible to forget such a thing.

* * *

“ _Belle? It’s Papa. Listen, sweetheart, I’m sorry to do this to you, but I can’t be with you  for Christmas this year. I need to travel for work. I promise I’ll make it up to you. I love you, darling.”_ The answering machine cut out and Belle sighed, looking across the room at the Chinese girl who’d stopped packing.

“Look, if you want me to stay—”

“Mulan, you haven’t seen your family in ages. Besides, Aurora and Philip will be devastated if you don’t use their Christmas present,” Belle reminded her roommate. “I’ll manage something. I can work the shifts at the bookstore that—”

“That’s going to be your holiday?” demanded Mulan, sinking onto her bed and staring Belle down. “Even if you stay here in the dorms, everything on campus is closed for break, remember?”

“I’ll figure something out,” Belle insisted, getting up and grabbing her coat. “Look, you need to get packed. I’m going out for a walk.”

“Do you need any pepper spray?” Mulan reached into her bedside table. “In case Gaston tries anything?”

“Actually, I’ve been okay for a while. Ever since Loki started walking me home.”

“Loki? The tall spooky-looking guy who works in the library?”

“He’s actually not that bad.” Belle pulled up the fur trimmed hood of her coat. “He just… has baggage.”

“ _You_ have baggage, and you don’t spend all your time creeping around, looking like an extra in a vampire movie.”

“ _Mulan_.”

“I’m just saying, after Professor Gold—”

“We agreed. You don’t talk about what happened with Professor Gold, and I don’t talk about the fact that you’re in love with Aurora.” That made Mulan clamp her mouth shut immediately, and Belle regretted upsetting her friend. “I’m sorry… But Loki is a friend… a interesting friend, and not one I know a lot about, but a friend all the same.”

“Just be careful, okay, sweetie? There’s supposed to be a storm coming in.”

“I will!” Belle promised, pulling on her hat and mittens as she slipped out the door and left the dorms. The snow was falling gently as she crossed the courtyard, dusting the entire campus with white flakes. Unable to resist, Belle let herself fall on her back and started making a snow angel. Behind her, she heard the crunch of feet on snow and looked up to see Loki standing above her, wearing a long black leather coat and a houndstooth scarf dangling loosely from his neck. “Hi…” she said softly.

“I like the jacket,” he told her with a grin, pointing at the pattern on her coat and tugging at his matched scarf.

“Thank you,” she smiled back at him. “Can you give me a hand up?”

“Of course.” He held out his hand, and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet. “Shouldn’t you be packing in your dorm like everyone else? The university closes tomorrow. Finally.”

“Why do you sound so relieved? You’re not a student.”

“I’ve had to work the late shifts at the library while everyone has been cramming for their exams. It was maddening, honestly.” He ran a hand through his hair. “They’re letting me go home early today as a thank-you. Care to walk with me, or do you need to pack?”

“Um…” Belle bit her lip. “I’ll walk with you.” They started down the path as Loki pulled one of his mint boxes from his coat pocket and held it out to her. 

Belle cupped her hand to receive the little green pellets, dumping them in her mouth. “Aren’t you cold?” she asked, pointing at his pale, exposed throat.

“Cold’s never been an issue for me.” He shrugged, tossing a mint into the air and catching it on his tongue, along with a mouthful of snowflakes. 

“So, what will you be doing while school’s closed?” Belle asked as he pocketed the mints.

“Working as a disc jockey at various parties and functions. And I still have my usual sessions at the diner.”

“You play guitar, you sing, and you’re a DJ, but you don’t want to produce your own album?”

“I do something that doesn’t bore to pay the bills. Besides, I’ve never written my own songs before. It’s easier to manipulate the words of others than to pen my own.”

“You sound like a lawyer,” commented Belle.

“I should, I was a pre-law major,” he quipped.

“Pre-law?” Belle repeated, saving the information in her mind with the handful of other things she knew about him. “Then shouldn’t you be in law school now?”

“Well, yes. I was enrolled to start this past fall.”

“So, why didn’t you?”

“And there’s the line.” Wonderful. The line. They walked in awkward silence for a moment before Loki repeated his earlier query. “Are you certain you don’t need to pack?”

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” she answered. “My father can’t make it home for the holidays. So, I guess I’m going to be doing the same thing as you. Working during the holidays. I’ll probably have to live off cereal and burgers.”

“You do that anyway.” They both laughed before Loki turned serious. “If you need a place to stay, I have a couch.”

Belle looked at him in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I weren’t. It would save you being alone on campus, and quite a lot of money.”

“Loki… I couldn’t possibly impose—”

“It’s not imposing if I invite you,” he argued, pressing the button for the crosswalk before striding across the road. “Besides, what other option do you have? I’ll be the first to admit I am not the flatmate type, but you _are_ my friend, you need help, and I can offer it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. So, are you spending the holiday with me, or no?”

“I’d love to, thank you.”

“Better take down my address, then, we’re here.” He jabbed a finger at the building on their right. Belle took out her phone and snapped a picture of the building as he kept talking. “I’m on the third floor, number 29. Come by tomorrow afternoon, and I should have everything sorted out for you.”

“Loki…” She reached out and touched his arm gently. “Thank you. Really.”

His lips twitched in a truly bizarre smile, one she couldn’t read at all. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

Friend or no, Loki was already regretting inviting Belle to stay over, and she hadn’t even arrived yet. He must have spent all night trying to clean up the flat, and it still looked cluttered and disastrous, at least to the untrained eye. Loki called it organized chaos. But at least he’d gotten the couch relatively bare, and cleaned out a few drawers for Belle to put her clothes in.

He leaned back against the wall, letting out a long sigh, and glanced out the window. Outside, everything was idiotic Christmas decorations, jingling bells, and traffic. Holidays in the city. Joy. He grabbed the remote for his sound system, flicking through the radio stations to find one playing _Fairytale of New York._

_“You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk. Living there almost dead on a drip in that bed! You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot…”_  

Yes, that was much better suited to his current mood. He started nodding his head in time with the rhythm and the obscenities, only to be interrupted by someone knocking on the door.  Straightening his shirt, he walked over and pulled the door open. The minute he saw who was standing on the other side, the little good humor he had flew out the window. “I swear to God—”

“I’m not here to ask you to take me back,” Sigyn interrupted, brushing a strand of her black hair away from her almond eyes. Loki hated how well she looked. There was a healthy glow to her olive skin that hadn’t been there in the six months they’d dated, she clearly decreased her use of eye makeup, and her eyes themselves were clear, with no trace of crying. “In fact, I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t be here when I came by—“

“Good. Then you can leave.” He started to close the door, but she stuck her foot in the way.

“Ugh, Theoric was right! I cam here, trying to do something nice for you, and you’re just being an ass.”

“Go away, Sigyn.” How was he supposed to react if she was going to bring up her damn new boyfriend to his face?

“Fine! Fine, Merry Christmas, not that you deserve it, you jerk!” She shoved a green tin box with a gold ribbon into his arms, glaring at him. “I’m going!”

“Great! Goodbye!” He slammed the door as she stormed off. “ _Women!_ ” he ranted, tossing the tin into a corner of the living room. The contents inside rattled as they slammed against the wall, dislodging the folded white note that bore his name in Sigyn’s tidy print.

Fuming, he switched the sound system to play from his music library. _Fairytale of New York_ was ending, and he had no patience for another saccharine pop cover of _All I Want for Christmas Is You._ The soft eerie instrumentals of his movie soundtrack playlist filled the flat, relaxing him a little.

“Loki?” Belle’s voice called out to him softly from the hall. “Loki, can I come in?”

“Just a minute.” He swiped his tangled black hair away from his face, tugging at a few of the larger knots. _Why do you even care?_ A voice in his subconscious asked. _It’s just Belle. For God’s sake, she was polite enough not to mention that time you wore a ponytail._ He opened the door to let her in. “Sorry about the mess,” he mumbled, feeling like he was a child again, getting his room inspected by his parents.

“It’s your home,” she pointed out, dropping her black travel bag on the worn in couch. “You don’t have to apologize. Sorry I’m late, I had to help Mulan get all her things into a cab.”

Loki ran through the handful of friends he knew Belle had, trying to pick out the person he thought she meant. “Your roommate? The Chinese exchange student?”

She nodded. “Normally, she spends the holidays with Philip and Aurora, but they gave her tickets to go home and see her family for Christmas.”

“I see.” Part of him resented Philip and Aurora. If they had the money to give a girl round trip tickets to _China_ , why couldn’t _they_ have taken in Belle? Had they even offered?

“Is this the soundtrack to _Lord of the Rings_?” Belle asked, interrupting his thoughts. He looked over to see her pointing at one of his speakers. “The scene in the mines of Moria, with the Balrog, right?”

“You recognize it? I’m impressed.”

“Who doesn’t know _Lord of the Rings_? I used to have the extended edition of the trilogy.”

“Used to?” he repeated, looking at her in confusion.

“I… I had to sell them online.”

“Why?”

“We needed the money.”

“You mean your financial situation was that bad?”

“ _Is_ that bad,” corrected Belle, sitting down beside her bag. “We couldn’t afford a storage unit when we moved out of our house, so we had to sell what couldn’t fit into the new flat.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Loki said softly, trying to think of some way to change the subject. “Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“No… No, I’m good.”

“Suit yourself. I’m making coffee anyway. If you change your mind, just let me know.”

“I will. And I know I’ve said this already, but thank you for letting me stay here. I really do appreciate it.”

* * *

Belle woke up the next morning, wrapped in the dark green duvet Loki had given her and her face pressed against one of the pillows. She rolled off the couch and grabbed a set of clothes from her bag, stumbling sleepily into the bathroom to change. Once she was dressed, she went back to her bag, retrieving the kettle and box of teabags, before going to the kitchen and putting water on to boil.

She opened the pantry, pulling out half a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter, and sticking two slices of bread in the toaster. As she waited, she looked through the cupboards for a mug. When she found the proper one, she was surprised to see one mug towards the back of the cabinet, a thin layer of dust coating a faded photo printed on its side. Gingerly, Belle picked it up, examining the images. 

On the side she’d seen first, there were two boys, maybe ten years old. The one on the left had impish features, a scrubbed face and neatly combed dark hair. Belle gawked, realizing that it was a much younger Loki. Next to him was a boy with a pudgy face and tousled blond hair, several teeth missing from his smile, and a scrape on his chin. The two boys had identical carefree grins on their faces. On the other side, the two boys had grown into young men. Loki was wearing a suit, his tie and collar loosened slightly, and a very proud smile on his face as he held onto the hands of the blond boy, who’d grown huge and muscular, with a scruffy blond beard.

“What the hell is that?” Loki demanded, stumbling into the kitchen as the kettle started whistling. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a black robe, and it was enough to make Belle blush. She could see the entirety of his bare chest, a leather cord with a gold pendant knocking against his pectorals.

“S-sorry…” she stammered, taking the kettle off the stove. Loki picked up the mug, clutching it tightly.

“Where did you find this?” he demanded.

“It… It was in the cupboard.”

“It’s not to be used.” He shoved it back in the cabinet, glaring at her. “What are you even doing up, what time is it?”

“About eight-thirty,” Belle answered, pouring hot water into the two mugs she’d originally selected. “What would you like? Earl grey? Chamomile? Decaffeinated?”

“Why the bloody hell are you up at eight-bloody-thirty in the bloody morning?” he grumbled, cursing under his breath.

“Chamomile,” Belle muttered, sticking a teabag in a mug and sliding it over to him before she answered. “I’m having breakfast so I can go to work.”

“So you thought to wake _me_ up?” he complained, pulling her slices of toast out of the toaster and tossing them at her. Belle caught them easily, putting them on a plate. 

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” She unscrewed the peanut butter jar’s lid. “I’m sorry.” He grabbed a spoon and scooped out a hunk of the smooth brown mixture.

“Spare me.” He tapped the spoon against her cheek, smearing peanut butter on her skin. “We’re even now.” Belle let herself giggle, and he smiled at her a little.

“Who’s the other person in the photo?” she asked. Loki’s face immediately darkened, and she regretted asking. “Never mind… it doesn’t matter.”

“No…” he murmured. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

* * *

The next morning, thankfully, Loki did not find himself awakened by a whistling tea kettle, and rolled out of bed around eleven, surprised to find a note on the table, next to a mug of tea. He picked up both, holding the piece of paper to the light.

_Loki—_

_I did my best not to wake you today, but I made you tea anyway. I hope you don’t mind, but I straightened things up in the living room a little after I found a CD case between the cushions. I’ll see you when I get back this afternoon._

_—Belle_

_PS: You may want to take a look at that gift from Sigyn. It’s the honorable thing to do._

“She _cleaned_?” He slammed the mug down and stormed into the living room, still clutching the note. She’d left the blanket folded on the couch and several neat stacks of albums had been left on the coffee table, along with the tin from Sigyn. Thankfully, nothing else had been disturbed, but that did very little to calm him. 

“Breathe…” he muttered. “Breathe…” He inhaled and exhaled several times. So a few of his CDs had been moved around. That wasn’t that bad. But she’d read the note from Sigyn. How had she even known about his ex-girlfriend? He’d never mentioned Sigyn to her, and she’d never asked. And damn her for using his code of honor against him. Stuffing Belle’s note in his pocket, he picked up the card from Sigyn and turned it over.

_Dear Loki:_

_I know you’re not a big fan of holidays, but I made these for you anyway. We’re both moving on with our lives, and I’d like it better if we could end on a good note. Merry Christmas, Loki. I hope you have a good holiday, and that we can try to work on being friends at some later point. It’s never too late for another chance._

_Love,_

_Sigyn_

He would never be able to understand girls. Never. He dropped the note and went to his computer, pulling up the various mixes he’d assembled for the upcoming parties he’d be working. The holiday playlists were all in decent shape, but the usual party mixes needed a little more variety. He started browsing the internet, looking for new material. He got so absorbed in his searching that he didn’t even hear Belle come in.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Don’t touch my things without asking me first. I thought I made that clear after the business with the mug yesterday.”

“Look, I know it’s your flat, but I just wanted to be able to sleep without CD cases poking into my back. I’m sorry, okay?”

“Just let me know next time.” He closed his laptop screen and looked at her pointedly. “I put things where I do for a reason.”

“So, would you have preferred it if I’d woken you up?” Belle argued. “And I did let you know. I left a note.”

She had a point. “Fine, fine. But just so you know, it was even worse before you got here.”

“Your poor girlfriend must have hated it.”

“Sigyn and I never lived together,” he said quietly. He really didn’t want to talk about Sigyn, but he couldn’t logically find a way to draw the line. “How do you even know about her?”

“I saw you breaking up with her.”

“You mean reminding her that I broke up with her. We broke up this summer.”

“Why?”

“I lost interest.”

“That seems cruel,” Belle whispered, biting her lip.

“Life is cruel.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”  
“She made it so that it did. Every time I tried to break it off gently, she simply clung tighter to me. In the end, I didn’t have any choice.”

“So, rather than take a chance and work through your problems, you just pushed her away.”

“Why are you so determined to make me the villain, Belle? Not everything is as simple as you want to be.”

“Did you even consider her feelings when you dumped her?” Belle’s voice started getting louder. “Did you thing about that?”

“Are you in any place to tell me what I should have done?” he shouted back. _Calm… stay calm…_ He took a deep breath, lowering his voice. “She’s moved on, so have I. And I think she’s happier for it. Not that I really care.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Why does it matter so much to you?” 

She looked at him as if he had slapped her, her blue eyes turning glassy. “That… that’s over the line, Loki.”

So that was it. Someone had broken her heart. “I’m… I’m sorry, that was unkind of me.” She turned away from him, and sat on the couch, pulling a book out of her bag. “Belle… I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Please, just don’t.”

He watched her turn the pages of her book. Her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth, her brow furrowing in concentration as wisps of her chestnut hair slipped out of the knot on the nape of her neck. _It’s never too late for another chance._ “Are you going to the holiday party Ruby’s throwing on the twenty-third?” he asked softly.

She looked up at him in surprise. “Yes. Why?”

“They’re paying me for working the music, and I could use some help transporting my sound system.”

“I… Um…”

“Besides, I have to work other events every other night. Please. Let me make it up to you. Come with me.”

“Well…” she bit her lip. “All right. I’ll help. But on one condition.”

“What?”

“We talk for a while beforehand. It’s been almost three months since we met, Loki, and I still don’t know that much about you.”

“There is the small matter of the line.”

“Look, just ask me a question, and if it’s not over the line, I’ll answer, and if it is, I’ll say pass. Then I do the same to you.”

“If you really want to.” He closed his computer again and climbed over the back of the couch to sit next to her. “When is your birthday? Is that an acceptable question?”

“Yes, that’s fine. And it’s the twelfth of February. When’s yours?”

He frowned, debating on whether or not to admit the truth. “ I celebrate it on the twenty-first of January.” If she noticed the stilted way he had phrased his words, she didn’t say.

“Favorite book?”

“Christopher Marlowe’s _Faust_.”

“That doesn’t count, it’s a play.”

“Fine, if we’re going to argue semantics, it’s _Notre-Dame de Paris_.”

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame?”

“I have a soft spot for the stories of cripples, bastards, and broken things.”

“And now you’re just quoting Tyrion Lannister.”

He grinned at the newfound common ground. “A fellow Westerosi, then? What house are you?”

“I get Tyrell on most quizzes, but I’ve always felt more like a Stark. You?”

“Targaryen.” He chuckled a little at the irony. “Are you following the show?”

“I love the show, I can’t wait until season four.”

* * *

Belle sat on a counter stool with a mug of cinnamon cocoa in one hand, and half an apple turnover in the other, nodding her head in time to _Jingle Bell Rock_. “I can’t believe Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina actually all managed to cooperate on something,” she told Ruby.

“You haven’t tried Emma’s tacos then,” interjected Regina, walking up to them with a plate of lasagna balanced on her arm. “She’s been holding out on me, making me do all the cooking.”

“I do the laundry!” Emma protested, sitting on Belle’s other side.

“You’re still living with your sister and her fiancé when you could be living with me!”

“I thought you and my sister were finally cool with each other!”

“That doesn’t mean I want to find her and David in bed every time I come over to see you! What if I’d brought Henry over? He’d have been scarred for life, Emma!”

“I swear, you two could make a TV drama out of your lives,” Ruby commented. “Dating the sister of your high school rival, who also happens to be the mother of the kid you adopted… It’s nuts, but you make it work.”

Regina’s face softened. “Thank you, Ruby.” She yawned a little. “Sorry, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.”

“Do you want to go home? We can let the babysitter go and spend the night with Henry,” Emma offered. “Sorry, Ruby, but—“

“No, I get it. Besides, I don’t think David and Mary Margaret will mind very much. I think I saw them going to the back storage room.” Everyone groaned affectionately at Ruby’s quip, and Belle felt slightly awkward as the newcomer in the group. “You guys go. Say hi to the little squirt for me.”

“We will. Just send the dishes home with Mary Margaret,” Emma told her, grabbing her red leather jacket with one hand, and Regina’s hand with the other. “See you later!”

“I can’t believe they’re still together,” Ruby said. “The first few months, they hated each other.”

“I guess that’s love,” Belle murmured, biting her lip. “No one really understands it, and—”

“Hey, Ruby!” Billy shouted from across the dance floor. “C’mon, wolf girl, dance with me!”

“Oh, big mistake, Billy!” Ruby set down her glass of scotch and sauntered towards him. Belle was left sitting with her cocoa and pastry as the music changed to _Clarity._  

_High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to life…_

“Belle?” Someone tapped her shoulder and she looked up to see Loki standing over her. Someone had stuck a set of reindeer antlers on his head, but somehow, he was pulling it off, just as he had the ponytail. Even so, the sight of it made her giggle.

_Fight fear for the selfish pain, it was worth it every time....._

“You look—”

_Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know how this ends…_

“I know, I know. And you look lonely. I thought we might be able to dance. Just for this song.” He held out his hand.

_A clock ticks 'til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again…_

“I’d love to.” She took his hand, letting him pull her onto the dance floor as the music’s tempo began to pick up speed.

_'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need…_

“Have you ever done this before?” he asked, spinning her gently under his arm.

“Not for a long time…”

_Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why…._

“Then trust me.” He moved his hands down to her waist and lifted her up in the air. Belle gasped as he let go, and she twirled in the air alone before landing in his arms. Her heart raced as he held her tightly. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time… safe. Comforted. Wanted.

_If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?_

* * *

“Loki! Loki, wake up!”

“What?” He rolled over on his side to see Belle standing over his bed. “What the hell?” He pulled the covers up over his chest. “I thought we agreed my room’s off limits!”

“Come on, I want to see your face when you see what I got you!”

“See what you got….” He realized. “Oh, you must be joking. Please tell me today is not the twenty-fifth of December.”

“Mhmm!” She grabbed his left hand, which was dangling off the side of the bed, and tugged at his arm. “Come on, come on, you’re going to love it!”

“Belle, I let you bring home the little plastic tree from the bookstore. I tolerated the Christmas carols. But I told you, no presents.”

“I know.” She gave him a mischievous smile. “And I didn’t listen. Come on, come on, get up already!”

“You better have breakfast ready if you’re getting me up,” he warned, swinging his legs out of beds.

“I do! Now, come on!” She looked so innocently happy that he felt a stab of guilt for being rude.

“All right, all right, fine, I’m getting up.”

“Great! I’ll go get the tea!” She let go of his hand and ran off into the kitchen. Still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Loki grabbed his robe and followed her as she bounced all over the kitchen, sliding his tea across the counter to him. “Come on!”

“Please tell me you haven’t had any caffeine this morning.”

“Not a drop!” she replied cheerfully. “Now come on!”

"Slow down, you’re going to break something!” he insisted. Belle ignored him, and went into the living room.

“Come on already!” He walked in to see her holding a large rectangular box on her lap and grinning at him like an idiot. “Go on! Open it!”

“You’re really making more of a fuss about this than you ought… to…” As he pulled aside the lid, his jaw dropped and he gingerly reached into the box to pull out the gift. “Belle… This… this is a 1981 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe… They cost almost three thousand… how did you…”

“Well, I mean, it took a lot of extra hours at the bookstore. Skimping on expenses, and I did get a little help from Ruby, but I thought you’d like it.”

“Like it? It’s amazing… I can’t repay this… Belle… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to repay it. If anything, this is me paying you back for everything you’ve done. With Gaston, and letting me stay here.”

“No, no… I need to do something…”

“Loki, it’s fine.”

“I insist.” He sat beside her on the couch, putting the guitar on his lap. “I’m bringing down my line. Go on. Ask me.” He focused his eyes on hers. “Ask me, Belle. I’m letting you.”

“Then tell me. What happened that made you come here? What are you trying to forget?”

Loki sighed heavily, preparing himself for having to relive it. “I left home last year when I found out that I was adopted. No, let me finish.” He held up a hand as she opened her mouth. “My father… The man I called my father, he did a lot of intelligence work for the government. At one point, he was in charge of leading a task force to infiltrate a terrorist base. Everyone was killed in the base. Everyone except me. I was an infant when it happened, so Odin took me back here and raised me as his son.”

“So why did you leave last year?”

“Because last year was when I found out. All my life, they’d let me live a lie, they’d hidden the truth from me. I… I couldn’t cope with it.”

“So you ran.”

“They chose not to tell me what I was. I couldn’t trust them. I didn’t know what else to do, what to think… I needed to go. To grow, and find myself. So, yes, I left home, and I came here. I was very careful to cover my tracks so that they couldn’t find me.”

“So the boy in the photos… their biological son?” Belle guessed.

“Thor.” Saying his brother’s name for the first time in over a year brought an odd sense of comfort. 

“You must miss him. And your parents.”

“Well, clearly, they don’t miss me enough to try and find me.”

“You didn’t exactly make it easy for them, did you?”

“No…”

“Then maybe they are trying. And they just haven’t found you yet.” She reached out to take his hand. “Thank you. For telling me. It means a lot.”

Loki let himself smile as her little hand squeezed his fingers, sending a rush of warmth up his arm. “Thank you for listening.” She smiled at him, and he felt his stomach do an odd sort of flip, something it had never done in all the other times she’d looked at him. “Belle, I…”

“Before you say anything, let me finish the deal. You brought down your wall for me. It’s only fair I do the same.”

“You don’t have to.”

“But I want to.”

“Belle—”

“Loki, please. Let me.” Her grip on his hand tightened. “You know that my financial situation isn’t… stable. It was even worse last summer, so I took a job with Professor Gold as his assistant.”

“Your classics professor?”

“Yes…” Belle bit her lip. “I… I hadn’t planned on it, but… I fell in love with him. Or I thought I did. He just sort of grew on me. Regina suggested that I make a move, so… around the time when school was starting up, I kissed him.” Loki clenched his jaw as she continued. “He didn’t kiss me back, though… He threw me out. Anyway, someone got a photo of me as I was leaving his office, and Gaston got a hold of it.” She bit her lip, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand. “That’s… that’s why they call me Gold-digger. They think I slept with him.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I… I made a mistake, and it’s over now.” Belle tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Professor Gold was a fool,” Loki told her softly. “Any man would be lucky to have a woman like you.” Belle blushed, looking down, and he reached out to raise her chin so that he could see her eyes. “I do mean that, Belle.”

“I know,” she whispered, placing her free hand on top of his. Loki felt another rush of warmth, and a sudden shock as he realized at this moment, he wanted nothing more in the world than to kiss her. Tentatively, he pulled her face closer, trying to stay calm as she leaned in towards him as well. His lips were just about to touch hers when the phone rang.  
“You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered, pulling away from her. “Don’t move. Don’t move an inch, I’m coming right back.”

“Okay…” Belle giggled a little, blushing.

Cursing internally, Loki stood and walked over to grab the phone. “Hello?”

“Loki? Loki, is that you?” A familiar deep voice blurted. A voice he hadn’t heard in over a year. “Mother! Mother, it’s him, they were right!”

“Thor, what are you—”

“Loki? Sweetheart, is that you?” Thor’s voice was replaced by their mother’s. “Oh, my God, we’ve been so worried! Are you all right?”

“Mother…” Loki breathed.

“And to think, you never even left the county, your father had people looking for you all over the country! I knew you couldn’t have gone to England, because you didn’t take your passport—”

“Mother, this really is not the best time, I have company over—”

“Loki…” Belle’s voice cut into his excuse as she walked over to him and covered the mouthpiece of the phone. “You should go see them. It’s Christmas, and they miss you.”

“But, what about….”

“I’m not going anywhere. I still have school, remember? You should go.”

“If I were to go, would you wait for me?” He reached out to touch her cheek.

“Will you come back?”

“I promise.”

“Then go. Fix things with your family. I’ll still be here.”

Loki pulled her hand off the mouthpiece, and returned his attention to his mother. “Look, I’ll see if I can get the next train back… Just give me a little time.”

“Of course, sweetheart. We’ll be waiting,” Frigga told him. 

He hung up the phone and looked over at Belle. “I want you to keep the flat. The lease is good for another nine months, and it would help you save on boarding money.”

“Loki, I…” 

“Please, Belle.” He bent down so that they were eye to eye. “Please.” With that, he leaned in and finished what they had started, pressing his mouth to hers. Belle wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

“I will see you again,” she murmured. “I know it. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”

* * *

_Epilogue: Six months later_

“Cheers!” Belle clinked beer steins with her classmates and friends. Philip chugged his in one gulp before picking up Aurora and whooping.

“FREEDOM!” he yelled as his girlfriend shrieked happily. Belle and Ruby gave Mulan looks of sympathy, but the exchange student shrugged it off.

“She doesn’t see. She doesn’t know. It’s fine.”

“Belle, your phone’s ringing.” Ruby passed over Belle’s blue peacoat. “I think you have a text.”

“Thanks…” Belle pulled the phone out of her coat pocket and flipped it open. Ruby was right, and Belle recognized the number.

**Come to the classics section of the Book Corner in 15 minutes. L**

_“_ L… I have to go.” 

“Wait, Belle, who was—” But Belle was already out the door, and running down the sidewalk as fast as her red open-toed heels would allow. She wove through the crowd of pedestrians, her heartbeat picking up speed all the while. By the time she reached the little book shop, she was out of breath. Giving herself a hasty once-over in the glass of the store window, she smoothed down her skirt, fixed her hair, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

As she worked her way through the maze of bookshelves, she could hear someone playing the guitar and singing, his voice smooth as velvet and dark as the night. “ _How could I have spent all my life just trying to let go, then suddenly find that, thanks to you, that truth’s no longer so?_ ” She rounded the last corner to see him standing in the middle of the aisle, playing the guitar she’d bought him. _“Please, can we make this leap together, before the moment’s gone? Because I know, if it’s with you, I always will hold on…”_

“I thought you don’t write your own songs,” she blurted. He stopped playing and looked up at her, grinning.

“I thought I’d make an exception for you,” replied Loki, shifting the guitar to his back.

“So, what happened with your parents, are you—” Loki placed a finger on her lips.

“First things first.” He bent down and kissed her deeply. Belle melted against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and let her mouth open as she twisted her fingers into his hair. Chuckling softly, Loki pulled away slightly to whisper in her ear. “Merry Christmas, Belle.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had to change the whole messed up Charming family tree in order to have Emma and Regina the same age, but, yeah... this au literally would not leave me alone.


End file.
